By Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
A North Carolina pro-family activist is praising a local television station owner’s decision not to run a new series that some critics say is degrading to marriage.
According to published reports, Jim Goodman, owner of CBS affiliate WRAL Television in Raleigh, North Carolina, has refused to air the reality dating show Cupid on his station because the show demeans marriage.
The show centers on a 25-year-old woman’s quest for a husband, who is eventually chosen by the viewers. If the couple remains married for at least one year, they get one million dollars.
Bill Brooks, executive director of the North Carolina Family Policy Council, respects Goodman’s principles and encourages others to follow his example. “Local TV stations should exercise their option not to run shows like this, and they would get better programming out of the networks. But the networks shouldn’t be running programs like this in the first place, because it does denigrate marriage and is not helpful,” Brooks says.
Cupid is the product of a current voyeuristic trend in prime-time television, borrowing from the formulas of so-called reality shows like Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire, ElimiDate, and Survivor. The show is hosted by a former MTV Veejay, and one of its executive producers, Simon Cowell, is the music industry executive and TV personality best known for his stint as the caustic and critical judge on the show American Idol.
During the course of Cupid, the attractive young woman will rove the country with two female friends, auditioning and culling potential suitors. Then she goes with selected semifinalists on a series of filmed dates, on which her friends will comment as they watch live. Later, the American audience will cast votes on a weekly basis, progressively eliminating suitors until the final vote.
Brooks expresses disgust at the trend responsible for such shows. “There seems to be a real wave of reality TV right now. Hopefully at some point people will tire of it, and it will go away. But in the meantime, it seems anybody who has an idea for any kind of show — and has the money to produce it — can get it on some station somewhere,” he says.
As far as the North Carolina station owner is concerned, Cupid misses the mark. Goodman says WRAL will run The Andy Griffith Show in its place.
Brooks says it is refreshing to see a local TV station take a stand for values, and he applauds the station’s owner for putting the welfare of viewers over profits.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press).
